To nobody's surprise, the Cedarburg School Board voted unanimously on Tuesday night to fire Robert Zellner, an 11-year teacher at the high school there.
His crime? Looking at a little porn when nobody's around.
Did Zellner, the chair of the Science Department, sign a policy stating he wouldn't do stuff like this? Sure. Was his conduct stupid? Yeah. Does it cancel out eleven years of what was, by most accounts, extremely competent teaching?
I suppose we all draw our own conclusions on that one. In my opinion, the board is nuts. And sanctimonious. It makes me glad that my kids don't go to school in Cedarburg.
It'd be one thing if Zellner was exposing students to pornography. Nobody is accusing him of that. So instead of taking a reasonable approach - you know, the principal pulls Zellner aside after school and tells him that what he's doing is potentially dangerous - the school board opts to go nuclear.
In doing so, those who voted to oust Zellner may be outing themselves as the last six people on earth who have used a computer and NOT looked at porn at least once.
School district attorney James Korom noted that on November 6 (a Sunday, mind you), Zellner accessed five pornographic websites for a whopping total of one minute and seven seconds. Then, as to continue feigning indignation, he stopped the hearing for 20 seconds to give people an idea of how long Zellner, on average, looked at each website. Korom said that 20 seconds "is a long time when you've got a screen of pornography in front of you."
To which I ask: where the hell is Korom looking at all of his porn? Obviously he must, or he would be completely unqualified to tell anyone how much time is too much time to stare at a naked woman.
So the Cedarburg School Board brings a sacrifice to the altar of Puritanism, and what does it get them, really? From what I've read on various websites and bulletin boards and heard on the radio, parents seem unhappy with the school board's decision. Students seem unhappy with the school board's decision. The board loses credibility and casts itself as inflexible and out of touch, a hat it wore just two years ago. As you'll recall, this is the same district that fired a popular teacher for making his basketball players sign on to a stricter code of conduct than the one enforced by the school district. That brazen act of idiocy led to the recall of two board members. One can only wonder what will happen this time.
Board members may be winning the witch hunts, but in a broader sense, they're losing the war badly. As much as they think they're on the right path, it's a path that ultimately leads to diminished respect in the community and creates an atmosphere of fear in the workplace. What teachers (or anyone, really) want to work in an environment where their supervisors are constantly nosing around and where the slightest little thing could cost them their jobs? If I taught in Cedarburg, I'd be looking for the first ship out of the harbor.
Sadly, just as with the school choice caps, the real losers here are the students. Republicans joke sometimes about the teachers union not really caring about students. And maybe it doesn't, but incidents like this don't make me trust school boards any more than the union.
Perhaps the homeschoolers are on to something after all.
His crime? Looking at a little porn when nobody's around.
Did Zellner, the chair of the Science Department, sign a policy stating he wouldn't do stuff like this? Sure. Was his conduct stupid? Yeah. Does it cancel out eleven years of what was, by most accounts, extremely competent teaching?
I suppose we all draw our own conclusions on that one. In my opinion, the board is nuts. And sanctimonious. It makes me glad that my kids don't go to school in Cedarburg.
It'd be one thing if Zellner was exposing students to pornography. Nobody is accusing him of that. So instead of taking a reasonable approach - you know, the principal pulls Zellner aside after school and tells him that what he's doing is potentially dangerous - the school board opts to go nuclear.
In doing so, those who voted to oust Zellner may be outing themselves as the last six people on earth who have used a computer and NOT looked at porn at least once.
School district attorney James Korom noted that on November 6 (a Sunday, mind you), Zellner accessed five pornographic websites for a whopping total of one minute and seven seconds. Then, as to continue feigning indignation, he stopped the hearing for 20 seconds to give people an idea of how long Zellner, on average, looked at each website. Korom said that 20 seconds "is a long time when you've got a screen of pornography in front of you."
To which I ask: where the hell is Korom looking at all of his porn? Obviously he must, or he would be completely unqualified to tell anyone how much time is too much time to stare at a naked woman.
So the Cedarburg School Board brings a sacrifice to the altar of Puritanism, and what does it get them, really? From what I've read on various websites and bulletin boards and heard on the radio, parents seem unhappy with the school board's decision. Students seem unhappy with the school board's decision. The board loses credibility and casts itself as inflexible and out of touch, a hat it wore just two years ago. As you'll recall, this is the same district that fired a popular teacher for making his basketball players sign on to a stricter code of conduct than the one enforced by the school district. That brazen act of idiocy led to the recall of two board members. One can only wonder what will happen this time.
Board members may be winning the witch hunts, but in a broader sense, they're losing the war badly. As much as they think they're on the right path, it's a path that ultimately leads to diminished respect in the community and creates an atmosphere of fear in the workplace. What teachers (or anyone, really) want to work in an environment where their supervisors are constantly nosing around and where the slightest little thing could cost them their jobs? If I taught in Cedarburg, I'd be looking for the first ship out of the harbor.
Sadly, just as with the school choice caps, the real losers here are the students. Republicans joke sometimes about the teachers union not really caring about students. And maybe it doesn't, but incidents like this don't make me trust school boards any more than the union.
Perhaps the homeschoolers are on to something after all.
4 comments:
I also heard on Sykes show that they needed to "clean the computer".
Is that the hardrive or is that the Mouse, Keyboard and Monitor?
Had to ask
You might want to look at today's column in the J-S from Mike Nichols.
He adds the facts that were NOT originally published.
Conveniently, I have blogged on the issue under:
http://dad29.blogspot.com/2006/01/more-facts-better-decision.html
Have fun!
I find this one of the most ridiculous things that the Cedarburg School District has ever done. Yes, this individual deserves to be punished. Yes, he needs to be told (again) that doing these kinds of things in a work environment (especially when your work is in the PUBLIC SECTOR) is not appropriate.
However, I ask one simple question of the individuals that are passing judgement on this individual: What kind of message are we sending? Are we sending a message that we, as a society, are completely intolerant of each other's faults? That at the slightest possibility of one showing their humanity that they should be ostracized from a profession and life they have built?
A number of years ago, I used to be a student in the Cedarburg School District. I didn't graduate from the high school (I went to Kettle Moraine, another district with its own set of contravercies), and I did not know Mr. Zellner. But I do know from my experience with the district that the teachers of the district do care, and have the futures of the students in the foreground of their minds at all times. Teachers of Cedarburg have, as long as I can remember, gone the extra mile for their students. Why? Because they know its the expectation of the people of the district. Mr. Zellner, like many other Cedarburg teacher, lives and breathes the message.
I still feel, though, that the greatest lesson I took away from my education in Southeastern Wisconsin is still one that is remarkably simple: forgiveness.
It seems, however, that the message that has been taught for so long has been somewhat forgotten. Maybe the school board needs to go back to class or think about enrolling in summer school.
Put aside all of the hoopla of the absurd nature of the Zellner's case. One fact exists that has been overshadowed in these proceedings. Mr. Zellner was not a good teacher, in fact Mr. Zellner was an unskilled teacher that was able to exploit the union for all it is good for... protecting unmerited teachers. Being a student in Mr. Zellner's class who takes academics very seriously, I felt that his teaching style was unconcerned and trivial. Personally, when in his class I felt like a lost student by actually wanting to learn. I came out of the class cheated out of an education. Don't get me wrong I like the guy but professionally he needed to get fired. It is only too sad that it had to happen this way.
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